“When was the last time that someone enthusiastically forwarded your web page?”
That’s what Pam O’Neal, Vice President of Marketing at Breakingpoint Systems asks anyone who’s on the fence about using video in their marketing mix.
Pam got started with video at NetQoS where she received a Viral Hall of Fame award from MarketingSherpa.com for Netcosm – a new way of visualizing network data.
After NetQoS, she brought her video experience to BreakingPoint where they needed to make a splash quickly. By leveraging, video SEO they we’re able to get a big bang for their marketing buck.
When BreakingPoint was founded we were the new kid on the block and we had to be found quickly. And there are very few ways to be found more quickly on search engines that are better than video.
O’Neal’s approach at BreakingPoint is different from the viral strategy that she took at NetQoS. Rather than relying on one video to create awareness, the marketing team at BreakingPoint uses the LiveLook series to generate an ongoing experience for their technical customer. Interviews with developers and deep dives into their hardware flesh out the content that network engineers (and Google) love.
How do you get started?
Pam suggests that you dive right in. Even though your videos may be grainy or jumpy, you’re still producing something that’s more “real” for your audience. Get a few clips out there and then measure and adjust as you learn more about what your audience is looking for.
In the beginning, focus on the story. As Pam points out, “As a marketer you have to be a great storyteller and there’s no better way to tell a story than video.”
It’s not going to be perfect at first. Use feedback, comments and conversations with your audience to find out what they’re looking for and then give it to them. Over time, you’ll start using more advanced techniques for lighting, editing, and compression.
Ultimately, what your customers share with their colleagues won’t be fantastic feats of lighting and audio, but rather that one thing that makes their life easier or more interesting.
Our friends at Phurnace Software asked us to help them create a show that highlights their ability to automate java application deployments. Phurnace builds software to help companies automate the deployment of J2EE applications and configuration of WebSphere, WebLogic, JBoss or WebSphere Portal.
Shot on a Canon HV30 and performed by Larry Warnock and Jessica Gass [...]
Our friends at Phurnace Software, who make Java application deployment software, are gearing up to announce a new “rollback” feature in their Portal Deliver product at the next Websphere Portal Excellence Conference.
They asked us to put together a quick promo piece to invite people to their booth.
We are gearing up for a great [...]
We put together a book trailer for the book “Smoke Screen” by Sandra Brown.
Ms. Brown isn’t a customer of ours, but we felt like playing around a little with graphic animation, and intrigue. You can find out more about the book and the author over at Barnes and Noble.
The Pink Slip Festival in Austin, Texas provided free live music, family fun, cheap beer and hotdogs for Austin’s unemployed families. Dan Dillard of Amplify Financial created the Pink Slip Festival as an Austin styled response at to the down economy. The Pink Slip Festival was held at the Spider House coffee shop and featured [...]
It’s no big secret that @bigmanweston and I like to eat.
My wife is a killer cook and Weston’s culinary paramour, @girlblake, can make a mean Sunny Side Up-Cake.
So when she decided to take her cupcakes on the road to the Cupcake Smackdown 1.0, we thought we’d tag along with a camera.
There were many entries. [...]
This is a promo piece that we shot for our friends at Amplify Federal Credit Union.
The 30 second commercial aired in Austin captures Rob Harbison’s testimonial about Amplify’s new “Free All ATMs” campaign. That’s right. All your ATM transactions are free with Amplify.
Go Amplify!